The present invention is a stove pad that provides a stable base for a portable stove such as those used by mountaineers, campers, and backpackers.
The popularity of mountaineering and backpacking has grown almost exponentially over the past three decades. Hiker traffic in the back country has become so heavy that in some national parks and wilderness areas access is limited to a given number of hikers in order to prevent wear on fragile meadows and camping areas. In many locations the readily available firewood has long ago been used up and management authorities now require overnight hikers to carry stoves and fuel for cooking. Such stoves have always been needed by mountaineers and other who might be camping above timberline or on snow. These stoves must be small enough to readily fit in a backpack and light enough so that they will not overly burden the hiker. Generally they weigh less than 1 kg. The stoves normally are designed to use either kerosine or white gasoline for fuel. Examples can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,877,458 and 4,177,790.
Hikers must occasionally camp in small areas that are less than desirable from the standpoint of comfort and convenience. In many mountain areas flat surfaces for camp locations are at a high premium or unavailable. The typical camp stove has a relatively small basal area and needs a firm flat surface to hold the cooking utensils level. Snow camping poses particular problems. Even if the snow is packed hard, heat conducted and reflected from the stove will cause it to melt into the snow, usually with disastrous results for the camper's dinner. To counter this problem, campers often carry small squares of plywood or foam insulation as a stove base. Unfortunately, these improvised bases tend to be heavy and/or hard to accommodate in the limited space within a backpack. Stoves having a higher effective basal area, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,189,016, while sufficiently stable on solid ground, still require some sort of insulating base when used on snow.
Apparently nobody before the present inventor has seriously addressed the problem of providing a stove pad or base that gives maximum bearing surface with minimum bulk and weight and that will readily fit into a pack.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 264,928 shows a pot or pan restraint for engaging the radial bars of a stove top grating. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 282,340 illustrates a base for a cooking pot, such as a wok. This presumably would hold the wok over a stove burner or allow it to be placed on a table. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 316,007 describes a stand for a fondue pot or similar article. While remotely similar in purpose, none of these articles addresses the problems outlined above and none would meet both requirements of light weight and minimum bulk.